Earlier this year, it was announced that the 619 Building — Pioneer Square’s First Thursday’s most exciting spot — would be closing and its artists forced to relocate. In celebration of this, the recent Art Walks at 619 have been out of control, with visitors spilling out of doorways, artists jovial and lively, and musical acts aplenty.

But these good times are being ground to a halt abruptly. According to Seattle PI, “Instead of their original spring move-out deadline, at least 8 months away, they have now been told that need to be out in just two months.”

With August 1st as the new cut-off date, artists will unfortunately not be able to participate in the First Thursday Art Walk on August 4th; instead, residents will be celebrating Last Thursday tonight.

As the artists search for new studio spaces in the near future, we just want to give one last hurrah to the legacy of the 619 Building as we know it. This post highlights some of the building’s residents, and other artists who have simply shown there, who have come to be adored by REDEFINE — many of which have gone on to become major players in the Seattle art scene. Having a studio in the 619 Building has very obviously helped foster career growth for many of these talented individuals, and with the hour of demise looming so close, let’s just take a moment to celebrate the great moments that have been had in the space, where residents and visitors alike have stepped on open, even grounds.

Chris Sheridan

“”If you let your head get too big, you stop growing.”
READ FULL INTERVIEW

Stacey Rozich

“As I got older, I learned that if you can convey a story with an image, then you’re good; you’re golden. So I focused on having this background narrative that wasn’t quite obvious, yet each piece has a little vignette — a little drama in it.”
READ FULL INTERVIEW

lucien knuteson

“Just because something has been done before does not mean that you shouldn’t pull the trigger yourself, because that’s the only way to learn and the only way to get better.”
READ FULL INTERVIEW

—

AND MUCH OLDER…

July 2008 Recap: Bryan Mandronico, Erin Kendig, Stacey Rozich
May 2008 Recap: PeeGee!, Ego, Parskid, Keith Noordzy, Jeff Jacobson, Aaron Kraten, Weston Jandacka, Kate Protage, Chris Sheridan, Lucien Knuteson
April 2008 Recap: Mark M. Magill, Ryan Molenkamp, Redd, Carl Faulkner
Jason Sho Green Interview

Seattle’s First Thursday is massive; here are some selections from some galleries we regularly enjoy. And, can I just say? Seattle is really rockin and rollin this month, with tons of really excellent and innovative exhibitions. We just did the post for Portland’s First Thursday, and Seattle’s is making Portland’s look like child’s play.

james harris gallery

http://www.jamesharrisgallery.com

Don’t mind Maki Tamura; she’s just killing it, as always. She just knows all too well how to incorporate vintage imagery and intricate, lace-like detail into her mixed media works. Her precision is wonderful, and her works have evolved to become more brilliantly composed than ever. This show also features an installation by Tamura. She deserves her own post. It will come soon.

greg kucera gallery

http://www.gregkucera.com

Chris Engman creates sculptures, often from found industrial objects, and photographs them. The pictures say it all, and all of these prints are limited edition.

flatcolor gallery

http://www.flatcolor.com/

Seattle street artist Baso Fibonacci gets busy with his solo show. There isn’t a preview on Flatcolor Gallery’s website just yet, but it’ll be a good one.

foster white gallery

http://www.fosterwhite.com

David Alexander’s pencil and paper works.

rock dement

http://www.rockdement.com

I’m not entirely sure what this gallery is about, but this is a group show of “mixfixed” toys, and hell, the show is called Frippery, Bibelot, and a little sugar for the homeless. Like, seriously, it’s a benefit show. See the flyer.

punch gallery

http://www.punchgallery.org/

Mark Koven is going to have a multi-disciplinary installation featuring new media works that will somehow find a way to incorporate all of the following: “science and sociology converged with sculpture, physical computing, film, photography, sound and performance.” This is an installation that needs to be seen to be understood. Here’s more quotes from Punch Gallery about it:

“… he takes inspiration from the life of the French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Falling into the Sky focuses on the “essential” as experienced through the merging of a child and adult’s perspectives. Utilizing such materials as bubbles, sound, electronics and wind turbines, the work in the exhibition will also highlight Koven’s fascination with the natural and manmade facets of flight. Included in the exhibition is an interactive piece titled Draw me a Sheep. This work recalls the moment in Le Petit Prince when the main character of the book and the downed aviator first meet. As he approaches the pilot, he asks, “Draw me a Sheep.” What follows in the book is a dialogue that speaks towards Ferdinand de Saussure’s philosophy on Semiotics. As with their conversation, so happens with the voice recognition software in the piece, it listens but makes mistakes transcribing what is actually spoken.”

monarch contemporary

http://www.monarchcontemporary.com

Mixed media works by Rangel De Maria. Aah!

la familia gallery

http://www.lafamiliagallery.org

This is one of three exhibitions going on at La Familia Gallery this month, and features the etched, whimsical works of Mirka Hokkanen. Think fuzzy, lovely woodland creatures.

It’s been a minute since we’ve written about shows at Flatcolor Gallery, but that doesnt mean they’ve been slacking on fine arts curation. In fact, they’re doing a great job. This month, they take their show to group show territory and prominently feature one artist we here at REDEFINE know so well — Stacey Rozich. In addition to Rozich, though, a lot of the artists focused on black and whites. There’s too much color on this blog. Here are my favorites from the raw and grimey — and often death-themed — works on display now through November 28th at Flatcolor.

jon macnair

Distorted Recollection of a Dream About Death

Chris Pell

It only took a few days for the
orb to take effect.

The Altercation

Ryan T. Riss

Space Eyes

As of today, you have one more week left to snag some Bigfoot pieces from Flatcolor Gallery (528 First Avenue South, Seattle, WA) — lucky you! Snatch ‘em up while you still can! The full-color painted pieces are not cheap, but I don’t imagine they’ll get any cheaper anytime soon. Luckily, there’s some diversity in this show so that those with less funds can still -somewhat- afford a Bigfoot original.

The Reckoning – 30″ x 20″ – acrylic,ink,and resin on wood – $2,000.00

Guitarmageddon – 16″ x 20″ – silkscreen by artist and varnish on wood – $250.00

Go Green – 18″ x 24″ – silkscreen and varnish on wood – $200.00

Almost missed this show by Ariana Page Russell, who works taking photographs of skin.

“How can that possibly be interesting?” you ask?

Judging by the description, I would have imagined some kind of macro biological photography analysis of skin, but Russell’s photographs of skin are just as much about the human being their stuck onto than the skin itself. Her work is conceptually creative and visually engrossing.

This show at Platform Gallery (114 Third Avenue S, Seattle, WA) closes out tomorrow, so catch it quickly!

Now through June 19th at James Harris Gallery (312 2nd Ave. S., Seattle, WA), Tanya Batura will be showing her earthenware and acrylic life-sized human forms. While picture-perfect from some angles, her creations are flawed from other viewpoints — the faces crumpling at scarred points and missing complete cross-sections.